Connie Chiume Opens Up About 'Black Panther' Role

South African actress Connie Chiume opened up about her ceiling piercing role in Marvel Studios' Black Panther.

"It is a huge career move. You know, our industry is not that big, and it comes to a point where you feel like you've reached a ceiling," Chiume said during an appearance on MorningLive. She added, "And it's like there's no going that side of the ceiling. But with Black Panther, I feel like I'm on the other side of the ceiling, and I'm beginning to see that the horizon doesn't end here, it goes beyond that." Chiume, who didn't know which role she was auditioning for and for which movie, believed she was auditioning for a movie called "Motherland." "I was surprised when I got there, [because] I was auditing for the same role with men, so I was a little bit confused," Chiume said. "I didn't know what it was. I auditioned anyway, I gave it my best, and later on, we discovered that it was actually Black Panther," Chiume said, explaining she portrays a mining elder. The actress wasn't familiar with superheroes — aside from Superman — and originally thought "Black Panther" referred to America's Black Panther Party. "I'm going to give it my best, that's all that came to my mind," Chiume said of auditioning for what she would later learn was a massive Marvel Studios blockbuster. Chiume plays one of the four elders of Wakanda, the fictional African country overseen by King T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who operates as the eponymous superhero. "It's a very organized country in Africa, very organized, very technological and everything, so I'm responsible for the mines of the country," she said. The actress previously said she was "very excited" to be part of the production and to work with first-time Marvel director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Creed). "It truly has been an inspiration working with such big stars and being directed by a young and talented man like Ryan Coogler," Chiume said.

Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Letitia Wright, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker, Black Panther opens February 16.